THERE will be at least 65,000 England fans at Wembley tonight for what has been billed as a very public audition, with Roy Hodgson sitting in the dug-out as if cast as judge and jury at a glitzy, X-factor style jamboree.

JUDGE: Hodgson claims he will have the final say over who makes the plane to Brazil this summer [AFP/GETTY]

Yet while the audience will make their feelings plain, what has already become clear is that the England manager will not be bullied by public opinion over his plans for the World Cup.

Tom Cleverley is not expected to start the friendly with Denmark, which constitutes a final workout before the 30-man provisional squad for Brazil is named in May, though, when Hodgson was asked about an online petition demanding the much-maligned Manchester United midfielder is barred from selection, his response was emphatic.

“That doesn’t impress me, I must admit,” said Hodgson.

“The fact is Tom Cleverley, from the moment the Euros ended, has played some very good games for us and been a very useful member of our group. I don’t think you can expect me as a football coach to have any sympathy with that and I would like to think that I’m not going to have the England team selected in the future by petitions from various people, who are holding it against one person for a team’s lack of success.

“Whether he’ll make the 23 or not will of course depend on a lot of things, not least of all how he does in the next couple of months. But that doesn’t just apply to Tom Cleverley that applies to a good many players.”

This, of course, is how it should be but it adds to the sense there is a growing clarity and sense of purpose about Hodgson’s management and also with the direction in which England are headed.

The countdown is on and, while a victory over the Danes would be welcome after the back-to-back Wembley defeats by Chile and Germany last November, there are other conclusions Hodgson will also hope to draw.

What is now clear is that, fitness-permitting, six of the starting line-up for the opening game with Italy in Manaus on June 14 appear set: Joe Hart, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney – and now Leighton Baines.

I’m hoping we won’t lose but I can’t elevate it to the importance of the World Cup

Roy Hodgson

Baines will be rested tonight as Ashley Cole and Luke Shaw effectively slug it out to be his understudy, while his Everton team-mate Jagielka is injured.

The spine is in place and, with 99 days and three more warm-up matches before the finals, Hodgson is content that the depth and variety of players at his disposal is not only present but is also allowing him to move away from the strictures of a 4-4-2 formation.

“I am very happy,” said Hodgson. “I shall be happy if we win that is for sure, but I would like to think at the moment that the future looks relatively bright.

“I do think we have more alternatives today and more flexibility with the type of players who are coming through, which will give us a chance to play slightly different formations as we have seen.

“The pool of players seems to me to be getting bigger and the good piece of news is that they’re playing and playing well, the bulk of them.

“We don’t want to lose games at Wembley [against Chile and Germany] but this game wouldn’t decide whether we win the World Cup or don’t win the World Cup. I’m hoping we won’t lose but I can’t elevate it to the importance of the World Cup.

“If it so happened that we did lose, but I learnt some very important lessons that prevented a major mistake when I named the 23, it could be a benefit in disguise. But our aim is to win the game.”

DYNAMIC: Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge are set to start at Wembley this evening [GETTY]

The conundrums Hodgson will hope to begin unravelling revolve around Daniel Sturridge looking as if he belongs at this level and to what extent the country can rely on the English core of the Liverpool team that is performing so well at present.

Jordan Henderson is set to line up alongside Gerrard and, perhaps, Jack Wilshere in midfield and it would be intriguing to see Raheem Sterling rewarded for his sparkling Liverpool form on the right hand side of a three-man attack at some point.

Elsewhere, Ben Foster is likely to be handed an opportunity in the second half to prove he should be the back-up goalkeeper to Hart. “I’m looking for them to show that they take it very seriously and are anxious that I shall pick them,” said Hodgson.

“I’m not going to suddenly pick someone I wouldn’t have picked because he scores a goal against Denmark.

“On the same basis I’m not going to leave anyone out who really and truly I have been thinking is a key member of our team because he has a poor game tomorrow.

“Every time you put a shirt on as an England player you are in the limelight and put yourself up for praise or criticism and you are not going to get away from that.”

Wembley will hope to discover just who has the X-factor tonight. But it will be Hodgson – and not the fans in the stands – who decides.